There is a need for investment in the provision of childcare facilities to enable all women to work effectively in the country.
This is the assertion by Professor Akua Opokua Britwum An Associate Professor at the Institute for Development Studies of the University of Cape Coast who highlighted the gap in government support for child care.
She explained that the existing programmes in the country only cover children age 3 and above neglecting the crucial early years from zero to 3 years with no formal arrangements in place.
Professor Akua Opokua Britwum stressed that childcare is not the responsibility of women only as such efforts must be made to support them in that regard.
She said “You go to the markets and they set off at dawn…They have to earn income…But what are the childcare arrangements?
“So, we give women three months of maternity leave and WHO is saying that women should breastfeed six months…But then if they want to do that, we don’t want to employ them. Because when they come to work, they want to go home and breastfeed their child.”
Professor Akua Britwum emphasized these at a seminar organized by the Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD) in collaboration with women’s groups on the University of Cape Coast Campus to celebrate 2024 International Women’s Day.
The Day is celebrated to honour the movement for women’s rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women.
The discussion for this year’s celebration centred on the theme; “Invest in Women; Accelerate Progress”.
Prof. Akua Opokua Britwum maintained that to accelerate progress, there is a need for structural changes in workplaces to support gender equality.
Additionally, she suggested re-evaluating economic models to invest in eliminating harmful gender stereotypes.
Meanwhile, speaking on the need for women to aspire to inspire before they expire, a professor with the Department of Population and Health at UCC, Prof. Emeritus Kofi Awusabo-Asare encouraged women to learn from each other’s stories and inspire each other with their support and encouragement to accelerate progress.
He also stressed the pressing need to provide a childcare centre for working mothers who cannot take their children to their workplaces.
According to him, having a top-notch daycare centre at the University of Cape Coast will help ease women’s stress in caring for their children.
“I’m hoping that in about 3, 4, 5 years when we come here, we will go and open a childcare centre. Every year we meet and talk. I will request that we have an agenda so that in the next 2, or 3 years, as I said about giving a childcare centre, we have something to show that we are working,” he continued.
On her part, the Regional Director of the Department of Gender-CRCC, Mrs. Richlove Amamoo also known as Mama Awotsu Adzagba II emphasized the need to respect women’s roles in society if we want to accelerate progress.
She stated that gender discrimination in the workplace and schools is high and conscious efforts should be made about equality.
“We need to motivate women, we need to empower women, and also advise women to inspire themselves. Because the moment they inspire themselves, they will feel that belongingness and have the confidence to forge ahead,” she emphasized.
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Source: Comfort, Angelina, Flora & Selina/ATLFMNEWS
